Yesterday marked the 200th day of our family gap year travels! We are currently dealing with a flooring issue in our Airbnb, and today we visited the Vietnam War Remnants Museum. It feels like it’s been a long week and it’s only Wednesday.
200 Days of Adventure
For some reason traveling for 200 days feels very significant. It’s well over half way and for the first time it’s starting to feel like we’ve been gone for a long time. Although we are all loving Vietnam, I have been feeling a little off lately. Travel causes a lot of stress on the body, and maybe some of that is catching up with me. For 200 days we’ve been sleeping in different environments, changing time zones, and acclimating to new food and cultures. Sometimes everything just feels hard!
One Broken Floor
On Saturday morning, Alexis came out on the balcony where Dave and I were enjoying coffee and said “I think the floor is caving in.” A construction crew has been out to survey the damage twice. We currently have to avoid a big area of the floor. We’re not supposed to walk on any tile with an X on it. We will need to leave for a couple days for them to fix the flooring, but they don’t have it scheduled yet.
War Remnants Museum
Today we had Field Trip Friday on a Wednesday and visited the War Remnants Museum. Alexis is currently writing a research paper about the history of the Vietnam War, and she got a lot of great information. To say that this was an emotional experience is an understatement. The museum is dedicated to documenting the human cost and historical impact of the Vietnam War.
I didn’t take very many pictures while we were there. Outside the museum showcased large military equipment such as helicopters, tanks, and fighter planes. There was also an exhibit on wartime prisons. It showed a prison cell recreation, as well as examples of different torture devices they used. This was extremely hard to walk through.
Inside there were various rooms dedicated to different aspects of the war. There was very graphic photojournalism from the My Lai massacre, as well as personal stories and testimonies from Vietnamese civilians. One entire room was dedicated to the effects of Agent Orange, and again had very graphic photos. It’s hard to believe that Agent Orange continues to impact new generations of people to this day. Another entire room was dedicated to American war crimes.
When we left the museum we were beyond exhausted. It was early afternoon and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet. We walked around for a bit in search of a place to eat, but ultimately decided to just go back to our condo and eat there. Dave and I agreed it was the most difficult museum we’ve ever been to and an experience that will stay with all of us for a long time.
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I just finished reading The Mountains Sing and a lot of the stuff you mentioned from visiting the museum was brought up in the book. I’m grateful I read it around the time you were there so I understood what you were referencing. I would like to MP you about it, I’d love to hear more if you are willing to talk about what you saw and learned while you were there
Yes, MP me! I read that book a long time ago and just re-read The Women. It was difficult to get through!
Whew, sounds like a hard week! Cannot believe you guys have been gone 200 days, that sounds like such a long time! It’s gone fast for me, lol.
I’m sure that museum experience is something you all will never forget!
200 days sounds SO long. It’s gone fast for me too!